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Episode 22| November 9, 2023

How to add the EXTRA to your ordinary life w/ Celena McBryde

She Was the Middle Child Who Kept Everyone Else Happy. Then She Put Herself First.

Celena McBryde spent years making sure everyone around her was happy.

The middle child. The people-pleaser. The one whose own voice got quieter every year, until it did not matter what she thought as long as everyone else was fine.

For a long time that worked. And then it did not.

The difference between an ordinary life and an extraordinary one, she says, is just a little extra.

In this episode of the Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast, speaker and founder of The Introvert’s Heart Celena McBryde shares how she turned empathy from a burden into her superpower, why you cannot pour from an empty cup, and the decision at fifty that changed everything.

Self last, ego dead, and the rest falls into place.

If you have been running on empty for other people, start here.

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“The difference between an ordinary life and an extraordinary life is just a little extra.”

– Celena McBryde

Fast Skim & Timestamps

0:00 Meet Celena: The Introvert’s Heart
3:37 The Superpower She Used to Hate
5:40 People-Pleasing and Losing Her Voice
6:44 You Can’t Pour From an Empty Cup
7:25 Permission to Take Me-Time
9:54 Turning Fifty and Saying, I Will Listen
10:47 From a Place of No to a Place of Yes
13:09 Die the Ego, Let It Fall Into Place

Key Takeaways

Empathy can feel like a burden before you learn to use it. It can become your greatest strength.
People-pleasing quiets your own voice. At some point, keeping everyone else happy stops working.
You cannot pour from an empty cup. Self-care first is not selfish, it is the source.
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is a little extra, taken for yourself.
Guilt over rest is a trap. If it is not life or death, let the emails pile up.
A shift from no to yes changes what becomes possible.

Three Petite Practice® Questions

1. Whose happiness have I been prioritizing over my own, and at what cost?

2. Where is my cup empty right now, and what would refill it?

3. What am I saying no to out of habit that I could answer with, yes, how do I make that happen?

Transcript Chapters

0:00 Meet Celena: The Introvert’s Heart

[00:00:09] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Welcome back to the Happy Healthy Hustle. I have a very special guest today, Celena, whose business is called The Introvert’s Heart. [00:01:28] Celena McBryde: My name is Celena McBryde. I am the CEO and owner of The Introvert’s Heart. I am a speaker and event planner. I work with people, and you do not have to be an introvert, trying to find more joy in their life. Community and fellowship are so important. I do not want people to isolate, because that leads to anxiety and depression. We have become an introverted society to a fault, and we have to get human connection back.

3:37 The Superpower She Used to Hate

[00:03:37] Celena McBryde: My superpower is my empathy. For a long time I hated that part of me. I would feel bad for something as small as the last fork left in the drawer. But now I see it is a superpower, because that connection is what is lost in the world. We are all in the rat race, what I call groundhog, over and over. You wake up, repeat. Where is the joy? Life is for living, and I am out here to remind people of that.

5:40 People-Pleasing and Losing Her Voice

[00:05:40] Celena McBryde: I knew my purpose was people, but after a while you think, who is thinking about me? I went through a period where I was resentful. I battled alcoholism and depression, coping mechanisms to push down who I was. My voice had been quieted over the years. I am a middle child, so I got lost in the shuffle and became a people-pleaser. As long as everybody else was happy, it did not matter what Celena thought. That was fine for a long time, and then it was not.

6:44 You Can’t Pour From an Empty Cup

[00:06:44] Celena McBryde: Once I figured that out, I knew it was time to put me first. The only way you can really help anyone is to pour from a full cup, not an empty one. You have to love yourself and take time for self-care first, and then you help others. The difference between an ordinary life and an extraordinary life is just a little extra, and that is taking the time for yourself.

7:25 Permission to Take Me-Time

[00:07:25] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Especially if we are solopreneurs or work from home, nobody tells us it is break time. It becomes a constant blend of work and leisure with no boundaries. [00:08:17] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Without those me-time moments, you are always your own slave. You get a bad conscience for going on a walk. A friend told me, so what if it does not get done? Let the emails pile up, because it is not life or death. We have to give ourselves permission to take a day off.

9:54 Turning Fifty and Saying, I Will Listen

[00:09:54] Celena McBryde: For me, honestly, it was God. I knew he was trying to get my attention, but I was not ready. I fought it for forty-nine years. I was turning fifty in 2023, and I said, I will start listening, I will not disappear, I will listen. From the moment I did that on January first, everything changed. I went to a community event, and one thing led to another that led me here.

10:47 From a Place of No to a Place of Yes

[00:10:47] Celena McBryde: I went from a place of no to a place of yes, and your mindset is so important. Instead of immediately saying no to going to the movies, I say yes, how do I make that happen. It is a shift. Gratitude journals and positive affirmations, it is all about your vibration, as hokey as it sounds. When it is truly not life or death, let it be. Do not hold everything so hard. As soon as I let go and trusted, it all fell into place, and I believe in the synchronicities if you pay attention.

13:09 Die the Ego, Let It Fall Into Place

[00:13:09] Celena McBryde: Call it God, universe, or spirit, you have to surrender it to something other than yourself. It cannot be about yourself. It has to be about others first. If you make that switch to self last, ego dead, it is so much easier. Anything else you get is a bonus. But you have to die the ego, as they say. [00:14:06] Celena McBryde: You can reach me at The Introvert’s Heart on all social media platforms, and the website is the same. My podcast is The Introvert’s Heart with Celena. [00:14:43] Dr. Christiane Schroeter: Thank you so much for being here, Celena.

Meet My Guest

Celena McBryde

Speaker, Event Planner & Founder of The Introvert’s Heart

Celena McBryde is the founder of The Introvert’s Heart, where she works as a speaker and event planner helping people find more joy, community, and connection. She is on a mission to pull people out of isolation and back into fellowship.

She hosts the podcast The Introvert’s Heart with Celena. Find her as The Introvert’s Heart across social media.

Meet Your Host

Dr. Christiane Schroeter

TEDx Speaker & Leadership Strategist

I’m Dr. Christiane Schroeter, TEDx speaker, leadership strategist, and host of the Top 1% ranked Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast. I help leaders think clearly, speak with conviction, and take the next step during change.

About Dr. Christiane

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